Forever By Your Side

25. Double date

"You wanna have steak again? I'll cut it up for you" Jungkook said. "Nah! I'll have Bibimbap" Taehyung said. "Right, okaiie" Jungkook said as he called the waiter and gave his order. 

"So did you enjoy today?" Jungkook asked. Taehyung's face fell at that question. He heaved a sigh, organizing his thoughts. He wanted to stop this before it went out of hand, before it got to late. 

"You............didn't....?" Jungkook asked, his heart breaking into pieces. "Jungkook-ssi" Taehyung said, lifting his head and looking straight into Jungkook's eyes. 

"I know what this means. Even though you never actually spelled it out, I know that today was supposed to be a date. I know how you have been feeling about me all this while. I know what the drooling joke is about. I know everything, but I really can't reciprocate it. I am very sorry"

"Tae-"

"No! Please let me finish. I feel the same way about you, Jungkook-ssi. I really do. But I know my limits. I cannot destroy your life for my own self. I have been selfish enough to enjoy this one day with you, but I won't use this privilege anymore. Because I am not worth it"

"You are wor-"

"You may ask me not to talk that way about myself. You may tell me that I am worth it. But I know myself. I know my worth. I know that I am handsome. But I am not perfect, Jungkook-ssi. I've got a lot of imperfections. 

Too many wounds.......very deep wounds.......I've fallen deep into a pit that you can never get me out of. And I've got no intention in pulling you in with me. 

My mental health isn't very strong. The sleeping pills that my friends give me every night don't work sometimes. 

I've seen them, I've heard them worry about my mental health. I've heard them talk about my weak heart. I've heard them talk about how it breaks their heart when I get night terrors, which is every single night. 

My life is a mess, Jungkook-ssi. I don't want to drag you into it. Like I said, I have a weak heart. My mental stability is weak. I have huge trauma. My dominant hand is practically usele-"

"But I still want you~" Jungkook sang in a very low voice, immediately shutting him up. Taehyung widened his eyes. 

"Jungkook-ssi, please. Thi-"

"Now you listen to me, Taehyung. I like you for yourself. That means I don't care if you've got a weak heart or weak mental stability or anything else. I have a heart that's strong enough for both of us. And I think that's more than enough for us. 

I love spending time with you, Taehyung. I've been going crazy for you. 

As for all the things that you have told me, I already know, Tae! It's not any rash decision that I'm taking now after listening to what you said. It is something that I already completely thought about. 

I came to know about a few things yesterday. And I spent a lot of time yesterday night thinking about it. And I realized that I like you no matter how your hand or heart or mind is. In fact, I want to help you overcome this, Taehyung. Just give me a chance. Please. Just once" Jungkook said. 

Taehyung silently stared at the table, replaying Jungkook's words in his mind. Jungkook stayed silent to give him some time to think. Taehyung's mind was under turmoil. He stayed silent the whole time as they ate their food and walked out.

"So.........do you need some more time to think about it?" Jungkook asked. "I don't think so" Taehyung said, looking up and locking eyes with Jungkook. "Let's have another date next Saturday" he said, twirling his bike key. 

"Of course......I can understand. Take your time. But please don't keep me waiti.........wait, what????" Jungkook asked. He first thought Taehyung wanted time till Saturday. But he realized what Taehyung said a bit late.

"Y-Yo-You mean, y-you........so you mean.....so...." "Yeah! Let's give it a chance, then. See you tomorrow, Jungkook-ssi" Taehyung said as he chuckled and got onto his bike. 

"Yah, Tae" Taehyung turned back to see who called him. Yoongi and Jimin were walking towards them. "What are you guys doing here?" Taehyung asked. 

"I hope we are not too late for a double date" Yoongi said ruffling his hair. Jimin tackled Jungkook in a bear hug, receiving a smack on his ass.

Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other. "Of course not! Let's go back in" Jungkook grinned. "Yess" Taehyung said as he got off the bike and locked his helmet to it once again. 

"What did you guys do until now?" Jimin asked. "Quite a few. Spin-the-Wheel challenge, roller coaster, Columbus, sugar candies, and a few other stalls" Taehyung said, ticking them off on his fingers. "And we had lunch at the restaurant outside" Jungkook said. 

"Ohh! Let's do it again! Yoongs let's go for that Spin-the-Wheel thingy" Jimin said. "Okaiie" Yoongi said and paid for the challenge. Jimin won the Iron man watch while Yoongi won a basket of chocolates. 

They went on all the rides once again. All the while, Jimin kept receiving dirty sour looks from Jungkook. 

"Jungkookie, all you have to do is ask me for it. I am not a big fan of it and you know it" Jimin said and chuckled as they entered a stall with the Hit Hammer machine. "Gimme, then" Jungkook scowled at him. Jimin chuckled again and gave him the Iron man watch.

Just as Yoongi was about to pay, his phone rang. "This is my treat, guys. Jiminie, take this and pay with my money" he said, handing his wallet to Jimin and walking out. 

Jimin opened the wallet to pay the money, but noticed a small photo with four guys in it. He knew three of them. Taehyung, Yoongi and Namjoon. But he didn't know the fourth guy. He was standing in between Taehyung and Namjoon. 

The four of them seemed young, in their early twenties. Taehyung might even have been a teenager for all he knew. The four of them stood with their hands around each other's shoulders, laughing as if they had no other care or responsibility in the world. They looked extremely happy in it. 

He took his eyes off the photo and paid for the game. He stayed back to look at the photo while Jungkook and Taehyung ran to the machine to try their luck. Yoongi came in just as Taehyung hit the machine. 

"Who is this guy?" Jimin asked the second Yoongi stood beside him, pointing to the other guy in the photo. Yoongi gasped and snatched the wallet away from him and put it in his pocket in a flash. "Did he see it?" he whispered, pointing to Taehyung. "No. Shouldn't he?" Jimin frowned and whispered back. 

"He shouldn't. It will trigger him horribly. Seojoon hyung told me that he told you guys a few things about Tae. That's Kim Seokjin. His elder brother. He died three years ago in the same incident in which Taehyung was involved. Tell this to Jungkook later. Not now, please. I'll tell you more about it later" Yoongi whispered.

"Okay" Jimin said. He felt really bad for Taehyung. 

'What exactly could have happened to him to cause this much damage?' he thought.